Notes to get you started with Tempo2

Contents
Installation
Converting par-files
Basic usage (without plugins)
Standard usage with plk plugin
Other plugins of potential interest
Simulating gravitational waves
Writing your own plugins

1. Installation

Hosted on sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/tempo2/.
Manual pages and just about anything you might need on the Tempo2 homepage: http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/pulsar/tempo2/ .

2. Converting par-files

tempo2 -gr transform Tempo1.par Tempo2.par

INPUT: Tempo1.par
OUTPUT: Tempo2.par

3. Basic usage (without plugins)

Usage without a plugin: tempo2 -f Tempo2.par tim.tim

INPUT: Tempo2.par, tim.tim.
Note that (in principle) any type of tim-file can be used. If -tempo1 is added to the command line, also tempo1-format par-files can be accepted.

OUTPUT: Textual output on-screen includes (amongst others) pre- and postfit parameter values, parameter uncertainties, number of TOAs, chisquared (if weighted), rms.

4. Standard usage with plk plugin

tempo2 -gr plk -f Tempo2.par tim.tim

INPUT: Tempo2.par, tim.tim
(same notes as above.)

OUTPUT: Textual output as above. Also plots up an interactive pgplot window:

Figure 1: Basic plk visual interface

Some common actions have buttons on the pgplot window, but for most things you'll need to learn the shortcuts.
Some important keys while running tempo2 with plk:

h: full help info. All the keys below (and many more) are listed in the terminal window.
q: quit tempo2
x: (re-)fit
z: zoom (press 'z' once on each of two opposing corners of a rectangular region)
u: unzoom
o: select all TOAs currently in the window
U: (Shift+u) deselect all selected points
d: delete the point closest to the cursor (also middle mouse button)
Ctrl+d: delete selected points

Also, once you grow accustomed to these, you may find it useful to switch between plot windows

5. Other plugins of potential interest

6. Simulating gravitational waves

There are a few publically available plugins that work with GW-affected TOAs:

GWbkgrd: Simulates a background of GWs.
GWevolve: Simulates an evolving GW source, as for the supposed 3C66 source debunked by Jenet, Lommen, Larson & Wen (2004).
GWsingle: Simulates a single GW source.
GWwhiteLimit: Places a limit on the GWB amplitude based on the technique first proposed by Jenet et al. (2006). Note: this requires purely white (i.e. Gaussian) timing residuals.

Using the GWbkgrd plugin

tempo2 -gr GWbkgrd -f Tempo2.par tim.tim -gwamp 1e-14 -alpha -0.666 -ngw 1000 -dist 1.1 -plot -f PSR2.par PSR2.tim -dist 2.2

INPUT:

-gwamp: GWB amplitude
-alpha: GWB spectral index (SMBH mergers: -2/3
-ngw: Number of gravitational waves in the background
-dist: Distance to the pulsar in kpc.

test.tim

--> Hit 'h' in the pgplot window to figure out which plots are available and 'q' to quit. Press 's' to save the simulated TOAs.

OUTPUT (after hitting 's' in the pgplot window):

0437-4715.res: Residual txt-file (MDJ, residual in sec, TOA error in μs
0437-4715.gwsim.tim: Tim-file of original TOAs with adde GWB.